Saturday, November 7, 2009

Pelosi's Bill: Buy a $15,000 Health Care Policy for Your Family or Go to Jail

Ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) yesterday released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail.

The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

"Although premiums under H.R. 3962 would vary by geographic area to reflect differences in average spending for health care and would also vary by age, the table shows the approximate national average for that lower-cost reference plan —about $5,300 for single policies and about $15,000 for family policies in 2016," according to a CBO letter by Douglas W. Elmendorf, director, sent to Rep. Charles Rangel on Nov. 2.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”

Criminal penalties could range from misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year or a felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.”